The Traveler
by Evil-Queen-Charlotte
Summary: Daryl x OC. While hunting in the woods Daryl comes across a woman in a tree. He soon finds out she is injured and has no choice but to help her. But she doesn't like groups, so once she is cured she is leaving, but how big can the area be, surely they will run into one another in the future.
1. 1- Meeting in the Woods

Chapter One

Meeting in the Woods

Thankfully there were no unusual sounds in the woods, nothing but the happy chirping of birds and scurrying of squirrels, unaware of the dangers that lurked in the world today. The sun had just come up and that meant that the woods were just barely coming to life and that, in particular, meant the perfect time to hunt.

Daryl had been silently following a doe through the forest since he spied it first waking up, but unfortunately he lost its trail and he stopped under a large tree to curse quietly to himself. He knew how to track so how could he have possibly lost this deer? Angry with himself he punched the tree next to him before leaning his arm on it to rest and think about whether he should try to find the deer again or not. Drip. Looking to his bare, left shoulder he noticed an unusual substance had dropped one it. He reached his hand over and swiped his finger over it and holding it in the sun so he could fully see what it was.

"What the…" he said to himself after recognizing that blood had dropped on him, not walker juice, but normal human blood, or an animal's. He glanced up above him and there on one of the larger branches of the tree was a young woman. He couldn't tell an exact age from his angle but he did notice a few other things about her.

She had used some rope to tie her self securely to the branch as she slept. She was just as filthy as he was, if not more and her hair was pulled back into a long pony tail, probably to minimize the amount of leaves and twigs that were already stuck in there. A pack rested on her lap, no doubt tied to her with the rope as well, and as his eyes traveled down the rest of her he found the blood source. Her pant leg on her right calf was cut and blood stained around the cut. She must have injured her leg there, and pretty badly, since he could somewhat make out a makeshift tourniquet.

Planning on just leaving quietly, no time to worry about some girl, Daryl started to walk away but still facing the woman when her eyes opened and the first thing they seemed to land on was him. She glared and with lightning quick speed she had pulled out a dagger from somewhere and pointed it at him.

"Who are you?" she asked a slight Southern drawl, but hardly noticeable.

"None of your business," he grumbled, stopping in his tracks and putting his hand on his dagger hanging from his belt.

"What were you planning on doing to me?" she asked not lowering the dagger.

"Nothin'. Was just walkin' away, so if ya don't mind, I was huntin'," he said before straightening up his stance and preparing to walk away once more.

"That's what I thought," she said to herself but with Daryl's hunting ears he was able to pick up the comment loud and clear.

"Hey, I could have killed you just now but I didn't, I thought you had enough problems what with that leg of yours, so why don't you watch your dumbass comments, hmm?" he snapped turning to face her once more. She had untied the rope and was folding it up to put back into her pack.

"Weren't you leaving?" she asked focused on the task at hand. Daryl glared before growling and walking away, punching a tree in the process. He planned to just kill whatever moved and bring that back to camp, that woman lit his flame and irked him the wrong way and now he just wanted to get the pent up anger out. Every since the world went to shit he never really did get a chance to let any emotion out and hunting was a good way to do so. He thought, that with his brother, they would be able to survive anything but they met up with that group and soon his brother and constantly high and bossing him around. Daryl didn't want to listen to anyone, especially not his no good older brother. Sure he loved the guy, he was family, but that was beside the point, it didn't change the way Merle treated his younger brother.

Daryl had just spotted a squirrel to kill and lifted up his crossbow to shoot when there was a loud thump and the squirrel took off running. Frustrated, Daryl turned around, crossbow at the ready to shoot the idiot that ruined his chance at another kill. He couldn't help but find the sight before amusing, the girl had tried to get out of the tree and by the looks of it fell. She was trying to slowly crawl down but her injured leg couldn't support her and she fell. Daryl let out a snort and lowered his crossbow.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up squirrel boy," she said as she slowly turned around so her back was resting against the tree trunk. She then grabbed her head and closed her eyes as extreme dizziness attacked. "Say you wouldn't happen to have a twin there would you?"

Daryl groaned before shouldering his cross bow and walking over to her. He crouched down in front of her and put a hand on her shoulder before giving her a peace sign.

"How many fingers do you see?" he asked.

"Four….six….either way much more than the two fingers you're holding up," she said. She took a deep breath and tried to shake the dizzy feeling but it wasn't going away, it was getting worse. Thinking it was dehydration, she shifted a bit and pulled the pack off of her back and began to dig through it before pulling out a water bottle and draining it of what little water it had.

"I don't think it's dehydration," he said while looking at her leg.

"I know," she said, "but water wouldn't hurt. Why are you still here, shouldn't you be off hunting some unsuspecting animal?"

"I would but you keep scaring them off," he mumbled before pulling her pant leg up and looking at the cut. It looked like someone took a knife or something and just sliced into her leg, almost like they were trying to cut it off. It was crusting and dried blood was being covered by fresh blood.

"What are you doing?" she asked trying to scoot away from him but he had a firm grip on her leg.

"You aren't getting far on this leg," he said.

"Yeah, my other leg doesn't look to great either," she said with a snort. He gave her a look before looking down at her other leg and pulling the pant leg up to see her ankle covered in a dark bruise. He touched it gently, having seen all kinds of ankle injuries growing up hunting in forests and he felt around for the necessary bumps.

"You sprained it," he said lowering that pant leg and wiping his hands.

"Not an uncommon sight after running through a forest being chased by corpses. That's what I get after trying to a hide out in a house where a family reunion was happening," she said groaning a bit as she got more comfortable on the ground.

"Do you have a group, or someone else out here with you?" he asked looking around. She chuckled.

"Nope. I was with a group, but they kind of turned on me," she said clenching her hands as another dizzy spell came over her.

"Why did they turn on you?"

"Someone…" she took a deep breath and blinked trying to clear the spots in her eyes, "got bit. I….tried to put them out, but they were against it."

"Stupid, no chance of survival once you're bit."

"Yeah, that comment got me an ax to my leg, after I tried to put an arrow through the bit ones …head." That's when Daryl noticed her weapons. Both were on her back so it was hard to see but it looked like she had a set of bow and arrows and twin blades. An unusual combination but at times like these, anything worked. That's when he noticed her head droop, she had passed out, no doubt from the injury on her leg.

Crap. Now what was he suppose to do?

Daryl stood up and began to pace, occasionally glancing at the passed out nuisance. He didn't know who she was so why should he care if he leaves her here to be geek food. He sighed and walked away. Not his problem.

His mind, though, thought it was his problem. It kept thinking about her and how she pretty much had no chance to survive. She seemed to have the will to survive, but with her body in the state that it is, she would be someone's dinner before dawn tomorrow at the latest, especially if there was a family of geeks wandering the woods. So then it just left what plan of action he wanted to pursue now.

"Damn it," he said before turning in his tracks and going back the way he had come. It didn't take him long to find the tree where she was still passed out. A walker was coming towards her from his opposite direction but he quickly took it out. Pulling the arrow from the walker's head, he wiped the guts and blood off before leaning down towards the woman.

"This better be worth it," he said as he put her on his back and carried her back to his campsite and where he knew the others would be ready to ask him twenty thousand questions. Already he didn't like the idea of bringing her with him.

**A/n:** I will update this story once a week, possibly twice if I have enough written. I've had this idead in my head for a while and decided to write it.

Thanks for reading.

-Charlotte


	2. 2- Twenty Thousand Questions

Chapter Two

Twenty Thousand Questions

"Who the hell is that?"

"What's wrong with her?"

"Was she bit?"

"Should we just kill her now?"

"Where did she come from?"

"Would ya'll just shut up?" shouted Daryl before making his way over to his tent. His brother was on a hunting trip of his own so luckily he wouldn't have to put up with his torment for another few days.

"Fine, Dixon, you get her cleaned up, but once you're done, you have some explaining to do," ordered Shane before walking away.

"Damn right I will," said Daryl sarcastically, "Fuck you, you ain't the boss of me." He knew he would have to explain everything; he just didn't like Shane and his 'want to be dictator' attitude. Daryl could see right through him and knew he really was a nobody.

Getting to work, Daryl rolled both of her pant legs up and grabbed a rag and his water bottle. It wasn't as cold as he would have liked, but it was better than anything, so he poured water onto the rag and wrapped it around her swollen ankle. Then he grabbed another rag and cleaned out the cut on her calf, now that is was cleaned he had a better look at the cut and was surprised she made it as far as she did on it. Finding the cleanest shirt he had, he removed her makeshift tourniquet and wrapped his clean shirt around her cut as a make shift bandage. It was the best he could do for now.

Exiting the tent he went to go wash his hands and lucky him, was ambushed by Shane.

"Ready to tell me who the hell that is?" he said crossing his arms as Daryl washed his hands. Slowly others gathered around them.

"Don't know her name. Just some girl I found while huntin'. She was sleeping in a tree and fell when she was climbing down and passed out a little later. Couldn't just leave her there," he said drying his hands off on his pants.

"And what were her injuries? Why did she pass out?" asked Shane.

"And why was she in the woods by herself?" asked Andrea.

"Why don't you just ask her all of this. Ain't my crap to tell. And she wasn't bit so you don't need to worry about it," he said before walking away. He grabbed his crossbow and went back into the woods, maybe now he would be able to find some food.

-.-

Coming back from hunting with only four squirrels to show for it he ignored the other sitting around the fire and went straight to his tent. Tossing the squirrels and his crossbow to the side he opened the flap and saw the girl still sleeping. Happy with that, he checked her for a fever before going back outside and starting a fire. The rest of the group had the squirrels he had hunted that morning, so the four he returned with was all for him, and the girl if she woke up.

He skinned and gutted the squirrel and had it cooking when his tent opened up and out crawled the cripple.

"Oi, squirrel boy, where the hell am I?" she asked, slowly making her way out and over to Merle's chair. She sat down gently on the edge and looked down at her ankle, her pant legs still rolled up.

"Brought you back to my camp. Don't worry, we kill the bit ones here," he said. To be honest, he didn't know if they did because the occasion never arose, but he sure as hell wouldn't keep someone around who was bit.

"Oh ha, ha," she said rolling her eyes, "and I suspect it was you that bandaged me up too."

"What about it?" he grumbled as he turned the squirrels on the spit. There was a long pause.

"Thanks," she said looking at him. He turned and looked at her and nodded. It was this act that they knew, while they might butt heads because of their defiant personalities, they knew what was important and that it was crucial to take care of one another at a time like this.

They were silent the rest of the night as they ate their dinner and were sitting back in the chairs. Daryl noticed that she kept looking over to the other fire where everyone was gather but he couldn't read her face, it was too neutral.

"So, do you have a brother or something with you here?" she asked while staring into the fire.

"Yeah, Merle, he's on a huntin' trip right now," he explained.

"And your last name is Dixon?" she asked. He nodded and she caught the motion in the corner of her eye, "but it was your bed I was sleeping in, right?"

"Yeah," he said kind of confused. They looked at each other and she tapped her nose.

"Everyone has a distinct smell, your sleeping bag smells just like you, I woke up a little when you were carrying me here," she explained. He just nodded again; made sense.

"What is the relationship between this group?" Daryl knew she was asking about why he and his brother were separated from the others, something in the tone knew she was curious. Plus she probably didn't want anything like her last group.

"My brother and I…we prefer to stick to ourselves. But when this crap happened decided to camp with these people. Better chance of survival or somthin'. We get food and provide the best we can but keep our distance and don't get too close in case we have to tear away from them."

"Sounds smart. I respect that strategy. This large a group of people, it's almost like a buffet for them," she said glancing at the others as they started to re-treat to their tents for the night. They fell into a silence again.

"You should get some sleep," said Daryl after a while of watching her fight it off; her head occasionally drooping than popping back up. She nodded and carefully stood up with the support of the chair and wobbled back to the tent. She laid down on Daryl bed again and was soon out like a light.

Sometime later Daryl came in and glanced at the girl sleeping in his bed. It was an unusual sight indeed, and he still didn't know why he decided to help her. As he laid down in his brother's bed he really regretted it because he knew first hand that Merle didn't not smell like any Georgia peach and having to sleep in his bed was just an overwhelming sent. He groaned before sucking it up and closing his eyes, what had he gotten himself into.

-.-

"Well, looky what we have here."

Daryl groaned before turning over and there was his brother at the tent's opening looking in. He glanced at his brother but his eyes were locked on the sleeping girl. Looking out past his brother he could tell it was just dawn and time for him to get up anyway. He sat up and rubbed his eyes as his brother walked into the tent and over to his brother on his bed.

"You know when you go huntin' I expect you bring back a deer or something, but this a lot finer. You done well, so what did you do?" asked Merle sitting down on his bed as well and beginning to pull his boots off.

"What?" asked Daryl pulling his shirt off to change it.

"You don't fuck a chick and then sleep in someone else's bed unless you screw up. I am not surprised considering it's you, but I want a laugh. So what did you do?" explained Merle as he then removed his socks and Daryl's nose scrunched up. Merle smelled but his feet were by far the worst. It was a wonder the girl hadn't woken up from Merle's loud voice alone but the smell must have woken her up, or she was in worse shape than he thought.

"I didn't fuck her, I saved her. Anyway why the hell are you back so early?" he asked searching around for a new shirt.

"Ran into some of those sick fuck's. Way too many so I decided to head back," he said with a shrug before laying back on his bed and putting a hand behind his head. Daryl nodded as he pulled a new shirt on over his head and glanced at the girl. He really didn't want to leave her with Merle, god knows what could happen, Merle hadn't gotten any in a few months and knew he would try something.

"What do you plan on doing now?" asked Daryl as he grabbed a handful of jerky for his breakfast and turned to face his brothers.

"Relax a bit I don't know, maybe cook up the game I caught for breakfast. What are the others…that cop, up to?"

"Running on low on supplies, heard they were going to head to town."

"Is that so?...Think I'll go with them," said Merle and Daryl raised his eyebrows at his brother.

"Whatever, man," Daryl said before shouldering his crossbow and leaving the tent. Merle just rolled over onto his side and got a few hours of sleep.

**A/n:** So maybe you can ignore the 'once a week' thing I said in the last author's note. I just didn't want to have too much pressure to write this story but I am writing it at a steady pace so I decided to upload it as long as I have enough written.

Thanks for reading.

-Charlotte


	3. 3- Another Injured Pet

Chapter Three

Another Injured Pet

She woke up with a start in a cold sweat, taking a deep breath she put a hand on her forehead before coughing a little.

"Finally awake sweetheart?" she heard someone ask that wasn't Daryl. She looked over at the man sitting on the other bed in the tent and she could only assume that he was Merle.

"No, I'm still sleeping," she said rolling her eyes.

"Don't get smart with me, girl," he said with a snarl.

"Then yes, I am awake, finally," she said before pulling the blankets away and rubbing her face. She really didn't not feel good. "Where's Daryl?"

"Don't know, huntin' I suppose, why? Need help with something?" he asked with a smirk. She just groaned before crawling out of bed and slowly making her way to the tent flap. She carefully made her way outside and sat on Daryl's chair before picking up a stick and poking the fire. Merle watched her every move and took in her injured legs.

"So my baby brother brought another injured pet home, eh?" he said to himself before getting up and walking out of the tent. He walked right past the girl and over to the rest of the group. He smiled to himself as he watched them tense up at his approach.

"Well, good morning to you too gang. Heard some of you were heading to town today, wouldn't mind joining the bandwagon. So when are we leaving?" he asked looking around the group that was on edge, he loved the effect he had on these people and it would only be a matter of time before he had the same effect on Daryl's little girlfriend too.

There was a pause.

"After breakfast," said Morales finally.

"See you then," said Merle before heading back to his own fire and the cripple girl. He sat on his chair and began to make the fire; the girl was getting nowhere just poking at it with a stick.

He pulled some bacon slabs and sausage links out of his old beer cooler and began to cook some. Luckily they still had some of that left over from raiding a store that had a back up generator; in the meantime his cooler did its job. Once it was all cooked he handed Daryl's plate to the girl and gave her some pieces before he quickly ate his own- had to make sure the others didn't leave without him.

When he finished he put his plate down on his chair and got up to go into the tent to get his gear for the trip into town.

"Thanks," she said which caused Merle to pause at the tent. He rolled his shoulders before going into the tent only to emerge a few second later with some guns and made his way over to the group that was forming on the other side of camp. She watched as they got into a car and drove off. She sighed before tossing her plate over onto Merle's chair with the other and sat back and closed her eyes, letting the fire warm her and the high Georgia sun. It was the beginning of summer and it was going to be a hot one yet as the morning got warmer and warmer she never felt too hot, even by the fire, maybe she was colder than she thought.

It was mid morning when she heard someone walking over and wave a hand over her face, the wind blowing by her face at the motion. Opening one eye at a time she saw a young blonde girl standing before her, looked to be in her early twenties, possibly late teens.

"Hey," she said moving so she was blocking the sun.

"Hey," replied the confused new comer.

"I'm Amy," replied the girl, "how are you feeling?"

"Horrible."

"Well I know the Dixons aren't really first aid equipped so I was wondering if you wanted me to help you out?"

"That would actually be great," she said with a small smile.

"Here I'll help you get over there and I can introduce you to everyone. Shane and a few others were iffy about you, but my sister and I kind of persuaded them otherwise."

"Who's your sister?"

"Andrea, she went with the group to Atlanta this morning."

"Okay." Amy kneeled down and helped the injured girl up by slinging an arm over her shoulders and standing up. They awkwardly limped over to the other side of camp and Amy helped her into a chair by the fire pit.

"I'll be right back," said Amy who then disappeared into the RV. Looking around she saw a lot of people and the set up they had there, seems like they had been there since the beginning of the outbreak. There were kids and young people here and there, families and people just trying to survive. She managed to catch the eye of one woman with long dark hair who was sitting with two kids, a young boy and young girl. They nodded to each other before Amy came back with a first aid kit and sat down on a rock in front of her.

"So what exactly is injured?" asked Amy opening the kit and pulling some sanitation wipes out.

"Sprained left ankle, big ass cut in my right calf," she responded. Amy nodded and began to work. She commented on how well Daryl did in cleaning it up, assuming it was much worse before when she was found in the woods.

"So…er…what's your name?" asked Amy as she slowly wrapped a bandage around the cut. There was a long pause and Amy looked up. "You do have a name don't you?"

"Of course I do…it's just once everything is better and I can make it on my own I am going to leave. I tried the whole group thing and it didn't work out. If I told you my name than bonds will form, like naming an animal that your going to eat or your parents won't let you keep. A name forms an attachment."

"Okay well judging by these injuries you are going to be here for a while so is there something we can call you besides 'hey you'?" Amy then moved onto the sprained ankle taking out an ice pack from the kit and breaking the barrier on her leg and shaking it to make it cold.

"Sure, er, call me Traveler," she said with a shrug. Amy snorted as she lifted the ankle to rest on a rock next to her and placing the ice pack on the ankle.

"Interesting choice, but sure Traveler, welcome to camp….for the time being," Amy stood up and brushed the dirt off her pants, "just stay there and rest, try to get my attention when the ice pack goes warm, which in this heat should probably be soon. Do you need anything?"

"Some water would be great," she said.

"Okay, I'll get you some. I'm going to get some more firewood as well."

Traveler scooted into the chair to get more comfortable and leaned her head back with her eyes closed. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. The sooner she moved on the better but she knew she didn't have a chance in hell with her leg and ankle in the shape that they are. You have to be able to at least move faster then those things and she couldn't even do that.

All of a sudden there was a static noise and a voice came on a radio somewhere. Traveler looked around and saw the radio over where an older man in fishing hat and a woman in a straw hat were sitting. Amy was walking by with her arms full of firewood and she tossed that to the side as she grabbed at the radio.

"Hello can anyone hear my voice?" came a male voice with a Southern drawl through the scratchy radio. The man with the fishing hat made is way over to the radio as well.

"Hey, hello?" asked Amy, slightly out of breath from her dash and excitement at hearing a new voice.

"Can you hear my voice?" came the response, or was it?

"Yes I can hear you. You- you're coming through. Over," said Amy as the old man was standing next to her now and she glanced at him before turning her attention back to the radio.

"If anybody reads, please respond," said the man. Clearly they could hear him, but he couldn't hear them. "Broadcasting on emergency channel. Will be approaching Atlanta on highway 85. If anybody reads, please respond."

Others had gathered around the radio now, but there was no hope to contact him, something wasn't working with the transmission and he wasn't hearing a word Amy said, but she continued to try because she had hope.

"We're just outside the city," she said before there was only white noise, "Damn it," she muttered. "Hello? Hello?" She turned to the old man exasperated, "he couldn't hear me. I couldn't warn him."

"Try to raise him again," he said, just as excited and nervous as Amy was, "come on, son, you know best how to work this thing." He was looking where the dark haired woman was sitting with the children until she got up and walked over. Then another man joined them, it looked like he was chopping wood with an ax before he heard what was going on. Slamming his ax into the stump that held up the radio he kneeled and took his shot at contacting the radio man.

"Hello, hello. Is the person who called still on the air?" he asked.

White noise.

"This is officer Shane Walsh broadcasting to person unknown, please respond."

White noise. Everyone in camp that was nearby had gathered now to watch the events unfold.

"He's gone," said Shane putting the receiver down. Disappointment flooded the faces around the camp just then.

"There are others," said the dark haired woman, "it's not just us."

"We knew there would be, right? That's why we left the C.B. on?" said Shane.

"A lot of good it's been doing," she responded. There was something deeper to their relationship; that was clear. They were struggling with something and it was having an effect on them, which inadvertently could have an effect on the whole camp.

"Okay."

"I've been saying for a week we ought to put signs up on 85 to warn people away form the city."

"Folks got no idea what they're getting into," added Amy.

"Well, we haven't had time," said Shane standing up. He has clearly taken the leadership position in this group, and seeing that he was a cop it was explanatory. Cops had authority after all; at least they did before this madness started.

"I think we need to make time," said the woman.

"Yeah, that…uh, that's a luxury we can't afford," said Shane. Traveler snorted, they had all the time in the world now, no jobs or the demanding pressures from society; they had nothing but time. There were so many at camp they couldn't find a single person to make signs to save some lives? That was sad, and clearly this cop was not he brightest leader. "We are surviving here. We are day to day," he continued.

"And who do you propose we send?" asked the old fishing man.

"I'll go. Give me a vehicle," said the woman.

"Nobody goes anywhere alone. You know that," said Shane. Then send someone with her. But she gave up then.

"Yes sir," she said walking off, the young boy following after her, probably her son. Shane walked over to stop him though.

"Hey, hey, hey. Go on, take a seat, bud," he said putting a hand up to slow the boy, "you're all right, go on. You're all right."

Traveler watched the boy as he paused and walked around, having an inner fight with himself, before going off to follow his mum and Shane, was Shane the dad? The way he called him 'bud' would suggest otherwise, to impersonal.

Amy then returned to the fire pit carrying the firewood that she dumped by the side and handed the injured girl a water bottle.

"Thanks," she said before taking a sip.

"No problem, sorry it was delayed there."

"No, it's fine. Warning people about the city is more important. Life is a rare things these days and we have to preserve it as much as we can."

Amy paused in setting up the firewood to look at Traveler.

"What did you do before all this? Were you a philosopher or something?"

"Please, I'm hardly a philosopher."

"Right," said Amy as she went back to the wood and Traveler took a sip of her water. "So what did you do before all this? Or is that too personal, like your name?"

"Is it really that important?"

"I guess not. Well I have other chores to do, just sit here and relax. Um, if anything happens we have a watch on top of the RV and plenty of people to protect the camp, but here's a dagger," she placed a dagger in the cup holder of the chair, "just in case."

"Thanks." Amy smiled and walked off to grab a little red bucket before heading into the woods.

**A/n**: So I have noticed that a lot of my sentences are kind of short and choppy, which I think is a symptom of writing so many scripts…and reading only comic books and filmmaking textbooks so I apologize for that. I will try to make sentences at an appropriate length and I do catch some as I do a brief read through.

Thanks for reading.

_Charlotte


	4. 4- Not Approachable

Chapter Four

Not Approachable

There was a rumble of thunder from above then the occasional drop of rain around the camp.

Drip.

Traveler woke up- she fell asleep in the chair by the fire pit, which now had a small fire going and a pot hanging above it. She glanced up at the grey clouds and shuddered at the chill in the air the clouds brought. She knew it would be gone soon, that was just how the weather was in Georgia, it will be a bright sunny day with a mild interruption from rain clouds, but the sun would be back soon to dry up the earth.

She hugged herself to try and get warmer when she felt a drop land on her head. She reached up to feel it and got a good feel at her hair. She left it in a pony-tail but she knew it looked horrible with mud, sticks and leaves still stuck in it. She brought her hand down and looked at her hand, it was filthy; all of her was filthy. She would give anything for a bath right now. Yes, a bath sounded great right now-

"Hey, how are you doing?" asked Amy interrupting her train of thought. The blonde girl was kneeling down and removing the now warm ice pack.

"Do you think there will be a shower or is this the outside of it?"

"Oh, it looks like just the outside, only a few drops, but it is headed straight for Atlanta. Not sure how that will affect the group there." Amy had a far off look on her face before shaking it off and grabbing the first aid kit. "I'm going to wrap your ankle and then get you some lunch. You were sleeping when we had ours and we didn't want to wake you."

"Okay," she said. Amy went about doing what she said she would do. She stayed quiet and Traveler could tell that something was on her mind. Probably how late in the day it is and the group- more importantly, her sister- weren't back yet.

Amy finished on her ankle and quickly fetched a bowl of soup and handed it to Traveler without a word.

"I have a question," said Traveler deciding to act on her earlier thoughts.

"Yes?"

"Well, it's just you all look really clean, aside for some dirt and sweat…" She left the question open. Amy laughed, happy to relieve some of the stress on her shoulders as she glanced over the filthy girl in front of her.

"You want a bath?"

"Yes, or, do you guys have a tub or something?"

"Yes and no. We have a quarry. It will take some skills to get you down there, but it's where we all bathe…and wash clothes, and get water. But it does the trick. How about I ask some of the other women to help you down there and get you cleaned up. Maybe that will make you look more presentable and approachable then you are."

"What's not to approach?"

"Well, it's also that you are staying with the Dixons, who are a little short tempered and stick to themselves, you know, not approachable."

"Right, I understand after experiencing both of them."

"Finish your soup and let me know when you're done. I'll go and talk to some of the other women to help us out. Be back soon." Traveler nodded and dug into her soup as Amy walked off to where she knew some of the others were.

The soup was okay, nothing spectacular but food is food and it was warm which Traveler greatly enjoyed. There was the occasional drip from the clouds above, but soon the weather cleared and the sun was back out which warmed her and made her feel toasty warm. This cold feeling was making her worry if she had an infection, she hoped not because they didn't have the medicine to cure her. Maybe it was just how she was living for the past week on her own and finally she was able to maintain a healthier lifestyle…and get some proper rest, lots and lots of it.

The soup was quickly gone and Traveler let the warmth spread in her stomach and warm as many crevices as it could. Relaxing into the chair as best she could she then lifted her arms and stretched, hearing a few things pop as she did so.

"Hey," said a woman walking over. She had really short hair, almost no hair at all, and had a kind yet somewhat frightened face, like a deer in the headlights. Traveler had seen her hanging around one of the guys and with the younger girl. Her family possibly.

"Hey," she responded from her spot in the chair.

"Um, Amy said you wanted to get washed up. I'm here to help. I'm Carol."

"Where's Amy?"

"Getting some soap."

"Ah." A silence fell over them until Amy came over.

"Here," she said and tossed the soap at Traveler who caught it put it on her lap, "do you have any…cleaner clothes?"

"Yeah, in my backpack inside the Dixon tent. Should be by the bed on the left side of the tent. Amy nodded and ran off to get the clothes. She hesitated before going into the tent and quickly grabbing a shirt and pants out of the black back pack and running out of the tent and over to the other women who were still silent.

"How did you sleep in there, that tent does not smell to fresh," commented Amy as she took in the fresh air and tossing the clothes to Traveler.

"Ah yes, ode du Merle. Smells great doesn't he."

"I never really wanted to get close enough to him to know," said Amy shaking her head, "well let's get you down to the water and cleaned up before the sun goes down. Carol you're going to grab other side of her and we're going to lift her on our arms like she's on a throne. Got it?" Carol nodded silently and moved to pick Traveler up. It was shaky at first but soon they got it and were able to carefully carry her down to the quarry and sat her on the edge of the water. Amy unwrapped the bandages and pulled Traveler's shoes off.

"So do you want to clean your underwear at the same time or are we going full birthday suit here?" asked Amy as traveler took her outer shirt off leaving her in a camisole.

"Might as well go all the way." Amy and Carol nodded and helped her get her pants off while she stripped her top and bra.

"We can add these to tomorrow's laundry, they are disgusting," said Carol as she made a small pile of all of Traveler's dirty clothes.

"You don't have to," she said as she scooted her way into the water.

"Trust me, the state that those are in, it will be doing everyone a favour," commented Amy as she handed Traveler the soap.

"Quiet," said Traveler. She lathered the soap up and began to wash her arms while Amy took out her hair tie and began to pick leaves and twigs out of her hair.

It was a few minutes later and Traveler was feeling cleaner and slightly better, a bath really was a good idea. Carol and Amy helped her into her clean clothes and then bandaged the cup and ankle before carrying her back up to the fire pit. They placed her back in the chair she occupied all day and handed her a hair brush.

"I'll just go put these in the laundry bin," said Carol and she walked off.

"I have a few more chores to do, but I'll be back later," said Amy as she walked off. Traveler just nodded and began to brush the knots out of her hair, there were a lot of knots so this was going to take a while.

She had just gotten the last knot, and by this time half her hair had dried in the heat, when the sound of a car alarm was fast approaching their direction. The noise would clearly draw any corpses in the area towards it, and she didn't like those odds. Anyone of those things in her condition was close to a death sentence. Still the car drew nearer and everyone was on edge.

There was a lot of back and forth shouting, trying to figure out who and what it was before a very nice red 2009 Dodge Challenger with black stripes stopped next to the other cars and out popped a Korean guy that was with the Atlanta party. Everyone was then in flurry to turn the alarm off and to figure out where the rest of the group was. Traveler just watched, setting the brush down on her chair, and watched as they started discussing what they should expect, 'walker' wise. She couldn't hear the conversation over the rumbling of a truck pulling up behind the Dodge.

She could feel everyone holding their breath as the doors opened, almost in slow motion, and one by one people she recognized from that morning came out and families were happily reunited again. She shifted the chair around so she could watch everything unfold. There was some talking, she couldn't make it out, before everyone turned to the truck and over walked another cop. Shane's movement seemed to stop, could they be from the same station.

"DAD! Dad!" shouted the young boy rushing over to the new cop, his mother following behind them. So even more families were reunited this evening. Everyone was smiling at the family embracing before them when Amy looked up and saw Traveler watching, she then glanced around and remembered that Glenn had said Merle had been trouble; he wasn't there. She walked over to Glenn and tapped his shoulder.

"What happened to Merle?" she asked and he dropped his smile and looked at her.

"He went crazy, tried to take over and was shooting geeks off the roof the department store, making unneeded noise. He lost it and attacked T-Dog so new guy here handcuffed him to the roof. Last I understood, he is still there," explained Glenn.

"Oh my gosh, that's horrible," she said pausing, "who should tell her?" She motioned to Traveler. Glenn looked up then back at Amy.

"I don't know," he said.

-.-

The fire crackled as it burned through more wood, no longer cooking dinner for a while now. Everyone was sitting around the fire enjoy the large amount of company, except one fellow who was stationed on top of the RV to keep a look out, even thought he really couldn't see anything in the dark. Even Traveler was sitting with the camp, but that's because she didn't move from that chair. At the beginning of dinner Amy introduced her to everyone so now she knew all the names and they were aware of her label but that was extent that they knew of her. She had to keep it that way.

Everyone had just finished laughing at Glenn's face as he described how they got out of Atlanta; apparently he wasn't too fond of cutting a corpse open and smoothing himself in it's guts. To be honest it sounded repulsive, but it was smart thinking. The laughter died down and Amy shared a glance with Glenn. He caught her eye and she motioned her head towards Traveler and he understood.

Glenn cleared his throat and looked at his hands before talking, "So, Traveler, about Merle. You have to understand that was a danger to us. I think the heat might have got to him or…it was just Merle being Merle. We didn't want to leave him but…"

There was a silence as everyone watch Traveler's face. Her expression was neutral before she burst into laughter, confusing everyone. It took a while before she calmed down and felt she had to explain a few things.

"Oh boy. I needed that laugh. Do I think it's horrible that you left someone handcuffed to a roof with only a door blocking him from being slaughtered by corpses? Yes that is utterly horrific. But do I care? No. I've only had one extended interaction with Merle Dixon and the only conclusion I can really come to is that he's an," she paused and glanced at the kids, "a-hole. To be honest I am kind of relieved that I don't have to share a tent with him tonight."

"So you weren't close to him?" asked Rick.

"Nope, but you're going to have a fun time with his brother," she said with a smug smile and standing up, with a little difficulty, "I'm going to bed now. Night." There was a chorus of 'good night' and they watched her as she limped back to the Dixon tent. She was happy she left the flaps down and the screens up so no bugs could get in, but the scent could get out. She got ready for bed which included putting a dagger under her pillow, or Daryl's pillow, and happily fell asleep.

**A/n:** what else am I suppose to do during the superbowl than write, right? I was happily watching the Walking Dead season 1 marathon on AMC, but at 3 my mum changed the channel to the super bowl reminding me that we have the season 1 and 2 on blu-ray. I knew she would watch the superbowl anyway, though because she did go to high school with the coaches.

Anyway, thanks for reading.

-Charlotte


	5. 5- Skin and Guts

Chapter Five

Skins and Guts

"Hey Carol! Pass me some of those clothes and I'll fold them, it's the best I can do," said Traveler. She no longer felt chilly but felt the hot Georgia sun just like everyone else. And her ankle was feeling better but nothing was good to stand on yet so she was sitting back in that damn chair, watching the men tear apart Glenn's stolen car, with Glenn watching, and none too enthusiastic about the ordeal.

"Sure," replied Carol and she gathered some clothes up that were dry and didn't need to be ironed. She placed the basket next to the chair-imprisoned woman and nodded to her. Traveler nodded back and picked up a shirt and began to fold it.

"Just place the fold clothes back in the basket when you're done and I'll bring them to their owners," said Carol awkwardly before walking away slightly.

"And can you keep them coming? I want to keep my hands busy."

"Sure."

She had folded about three shirts when all of a sudden there was some screaming coming from the children who were playing by the woods; not really the best place to be playing, but that was their parents' faults. The kids came running back while a few of the adults when running in the direction they had come. Not able to follow, she just sighed and continued to fold. It was probably was some animal that scared them. If it was a corpse then they got it covered, if not then her dagger was next to her.

Then she heard him and she put down the clothes. The action was about to get good. She turned in her chair and watched where the others were coming back from the woods.

"Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here!" shouted Daryl as he walked back to camp, "Got us some squirrel, let's stew 'em up!" He looked around camp and didn't see his brother but his eyes briefly caught Traveler in her chair.

"Daryl, just slow up a bit I need to talk to you!" yelled Shane after him. Daryl glanced back at him before realizing his brother wasn't at camp so he stopped to listen.

"About what?" he asked. Inside he was fearing the worse, but on the outside he remained calm and neutral, for the time being.

"About Merle," said Shane walking up to stand in front of Daryl, "There was a…there was a problem in Atlanta." Everyone had gathered to watch as well; Daryl was a wild card and no one knew what he was going to do but they did know that they didn't want to miss it.

"He dead?" asked Daryl.

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't."

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Threw in Rick as he approached the two men. Daryl looked at him and squinted.

"Who are you?"

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes. You got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

"Hold on…let me process this," said Daryl walking away from Rick and looking deep in thought. He then paused and looked back up at Rick. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof… and _left_ him there?!"

"Yeah," said Rick defeated. Daryl could not long hide his inner feelings and had to let them out. His face immediately had a frown; he was furious.

He threw his string of squirrels at Rick and was ready to tackle him after the diversion by squirrel, but Shane saw it coming and tackled Daryl instead. There was some scuffling until Daryl came up with his dagger drawn. He took a swipe at Shane but it was easily dodged. Daryl went to strike again when Rick punched his stomach and grabbed Daryl's arm with the dagger. Shane came over and latched onto his other arm and brought him into a choke hold as Rick took the dagger and put it on the ground away from Daryl.

"You best let me go," said Daryl struggling against Shane.

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." There was more struggle.

"Choke hold is illegal." Traveler snorted. Really? Daryl did know they were cops, right? At least that Shane was?

"You can file a complaint," responded Shane.

"Come on man, we'll keep this up all day," said Rick crouching down in front of the Dixon. "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?"

"…yeah," said Daryl and Shane let him go while both ex-cops stood up. Daryl remained down and pointed at Shane in warning as Rick got lower to talk to Daryl.

"What I did was not a whim," said Rick, "your brother does not work and play well with others."

Feeling guilty T-dog had to say something. "It's not Rick's fault. I had the key…I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" asked Daryl, at least he had common sense.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

Daryl hung his head before standing up, Rick standing as well and watching his every move so that no one got hurt. Daryl walked in the direction of his tent, and towards T-Dog as he addressed him.

"If it's suppose to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well maybe this will," said T-dog making Daryl stop and look at him, "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something," added Rick. Daryl was beyond pissed now, and too many emotions were gathering up inside him. He made a quick swipe on his cheek before shouting.

"To hell with all ya'll! Just tell me where is so's I can go get him."

"He'll show you," said Lori stepping forward from next to the RV and everyone looked at her, "isn't that right?"

Rick thought about and shook his head knowing it was the right thing to do. That was that. Everyone split up and started walking to their own directions. Daryl marched off to grab his squirrels and dagger before heading back towards his tent stopping next to Traveler on the way.

"You know how to skin and gut squirrels?" he asked. She looked at him from where she was sitting and taking a sip of water.

"Yeah. Don't worry about it," she said taking the squirrels and showing him that she had her own dagger. "Go get your brother." He nodded before grabbing her water and taking a swig then handing it back to her and she looked at it.

"Thanks, I really wanted your germs," she said looking back up at him.

"Hey, I saved your ass, so shut it," he said before wiping some sweat from his forehead and glancing to see where Rick had gone, "come on man, hurry the fuck up."

"Don't think he heard you." Daryl just looked at her before fixing his cross bow and picking up some arrows to secure to it. Traveler went back to folding the clothes before she would work on the squirrels.

"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?" asked Shane as he a Rick came around the corner of the tents.

"Hey chose your words more carefully," said Daryl pointing at arrow at Shane.

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant," said Shane, "Merle Dixon, the guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"He made me breakfast yesterday," said Traveler as she folded a shirt and the three men looked at her.

"He did?" asked Daryl surprised.

"Shut it," said Shane before turning back to Rick.

"What he would or wouldn't so doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst. _Me_. Thirst and exposure… we left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

"So you and Daryl? That's your big plan?" Traveler stopped listening when Daryl sat next to her and started cleaning some of his arrows and making sure they were in good condition.

"When do you think they're going to stop bitching to each other?" she asked Daryl he snorted.

"Soon I hope. I'm a gunna kill Shane if we run out of daylight because of him."

"So you're going to risk three men?" asked Shane looking at Rick once Glenn was recruited.

"Four," said T-dog. Daryl groaned and Traveler snickered which earned her a glare.

"My day just keeps getting better and better."

"Do you see anybody else stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" asked T-dog looking at Daryl.

"Why you?" asked Daryl who didn't even look up.

"Man, you wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's four," said Rick.

"It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was _here_. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp," said Shane.

"It seems to me what you really need most here, are more guns," said Rick.

"Right, the guns," said Glenn on the same page as Rick.

"What we need is for then to stop whining and get a move on it," said Traveler as she started folding some pants. Daryl glanced at her. "What? I just want them to shut up already."

"Just let them sort this out," said Amy sitting next to Traveler and helping her fold the clothes, "it is important, we don't want to be caught off guard."

"There are so many people here though. Sure someone is bound to get bit but most of the group can be saved if we were attacked. I mean I'm chair bound but I can still kill those corpses should the need arrive. All I am saying is that, their bickering is getting no one anywhere. There is a time to talk about things and there is a time to take action and this isn't a talking time. A man, a human, living man, was left on a roof in this hot Atlanta sun, probably not in shade either, and lord knows how many corpses on the other side of a door that will stop at nothing to feed on him." Amy thought about it and nodded.

"I guess that's true. I'll take these over to Carol," said Amy as she grabbed the basket and walked off before joining the group again. Traveler started to work on the squirrels as finally Rick was done talking and the four going back to Atlanta started loading up the moving truck and getting ready to leave. This Rick sure made things interesting at camp.

**A/n:** Felt I should update considering I've been watching Walking Dead all weekend. There was a moment yesterday when I tried to find something else to watch because I actually was getting bored (after watching it a thousands times in the past three months) but there wasn't anything else on TV to Walking Dead prevailed.

But the day has finally come, and everyone I know has been excited for the tonight. So I have to ask, who here is going to watch the Grammy's or and BAFTA's? Yeah I'm recording those but won't watch till after Walking Dead.

Well, thank you for reading.

-Charlotte


	6. 6- Personal

Chapter Six

Personal

The group of four men were now gone back towards Atlanta; to Merle, a bag of guns, and possibly certain death. Traveler was working on the squirrels; she gave Merle's bacon and sausage to Morales to cook. It would go bad soon anyway and she needed to make room in that cooler for all the squirrels. She then planned to dig a hole to put the cooler in the ground to keep it cold. The ground absorbed water and because the lower layers are exposed to the sun all day, it is cool and will do a better job than just leaving the cooler in a stuff tent. Amy came and sat down next to Traveler with a basket of laundry and started to fold.

"So where did you learn to gut and skin squirrel?" she asked.

"My dad taught me. He was big on hunting and fishing, never bought anything from the store if he couldn't help it."

"Where is he now?" Traveler just looked up at her and gave her a look and Amy looked down at the shirt she was holding, "oh right, too personal."

"Sorry, Amy, you know I can't," she said.

"I know."

"Hey is this your shirt?" asked Amy holding a beige button up and collared shirt.

"Yes it is, don't think I've seen it that colour since the outbreak."

"Well with this colour…and style. This is an old lady shirt, and I'm not talking about Carol, just how old are you?"

"Shut up, I'll have you know that I am proudly," she paused, "well I guess I'm thirty now. Heh."

"Now thirty? When was your birthday and you can't tell me that's too personal after you already told me your age."

"Fine, fine, my birthday was the day of the outbreak."

Silence.

"Happy birthday?" said Amy. Traveler just looked at her before bursting into laughter.

"I know, some birthday present, right?"

"So thirty? You don't look that old."

"I'll have you know that thirty is not old. How old are you?"

"Actually, tomorrow I'll be twenty-two."

"Hmm," said Traveler before picking up the last squirrel and cutting into it.

"Hmm what?"

"I'll tell you what Amy, in honour of your birthday I will answer one question you ask about my personal life. Just one so make it count."

"Okay how about-"

"Hey, it isn't your birthday today, you have to wait for tomorrow."

"Well fine then, and be careful with that knife, I don't need you getting blood on the clean clothes."

"Then don't bring your clean clothes next to where I'm gutting squirrels."

"Well excuse me for thinking you'd want some decent company."

"You know everyone makes fun of them but the Dixon's really aren't horribly bad; they are just different."

"They still aren't the nicest people."

"So far the nicest people here have been you, Carol, and them. Everyone else kind of avoids me or something."

"They just don't trust you because you don't trust them enough to tell them stuff. I tried to explain it to them but Andrea said they didn't need to know. They could form whatever opinions they wanted to."

"Oh, well, thanks for trying."

"Any time. Well I have to go down to the quarry now to help wash then I'm going to try my luck at fishing. If you need anything then ask Carol or, someone."

"I'll be fine," she said. Amy nodded and walked off bringing the basket of laundry with her.

Traveler finished off the last squirrel and washed the blood off of them before tossing them into the empty cooler. There was no way she was going to be able to walk and carry the cooler, but she didn't want anyone's help she dragging and crawling was going to be the answer. She closed the cooler lid tight and got in front of the cooler and started dragging it along behind her.

"You're crazy you know that?" asked Morales as he came and picked the cooler up.

"No I'm not, my mother had me tested," she said looking at him; he just chuckled and shook his head at her.

"Where do you want this?"

"Over by the Dixon tent," she said pointing.

"Right," he said and walked with her over there, "you know I don't think you should be walking with the injuries you have."

"I'll be fine." He just shrugged and placed the cooler down once they got to the tent.

"Need anything else?"

"Nope, one cooler full of squirrels will be it. Thanks," she said. He smiled before nodding to her and walking back to what he was doing. Traveler then sat down on the ground and grabbed the small shovel she had found and used that to dig a hole.

She was still digging when she saw Andrea and Amy come back to camp with lots and lots of fish. Traveler was both impressed and amazed at how much fish they were able to catch; either those fish were easy or those sisters had fishing in their genes, well good fishing.

They walked the fish over to the main fire pit where everyone was gathered doing chores and they all started clapping when they saw the fish. Traveler smiled and looked back down at the hole she was digging. It was slowly getting bigger as was the pile of dirt that now surrounded her. Walking wasn't a too brilliant idea because she could feel her ankle throbbing but throughout her digging process she managed to get some of the cool dirt on it and it was starting to feel better or she was just getting use to the pain. All of a sudden the noise died down and she looked to see that no one remained by the campfire.

"Er…hello?" she called out with no response in return. It was odd, like they just vanished. It wasn't a walker attack because then there would have been screaming so whatever it was that made them leave it was important but not endangering to the group. In other words, sitting on her butt covered in dirt was still all right, which was good because she really didn't want to move, and probably couldn't even if she wanted to.

Finally she had gotten the hole wide enough but it still wasn't deep enough when Amy came over and sat next to her.

"Hey, do you want to get tied to tree too?" she asked grabbing the shovel out of Traveler's hand.

"What?" she asked looking at her.

"Look, Jim had…well something was wrong with him, dehydration or something. He was digging these holes in the ground up on the ridge; they almost looked like graves. Shane got him down and tied him to a tree for his safety and others around him. Point is his digging was making everyone nervous so your digging probably will do the same."

"Well I am not digging graves for anyone, I'm digging so I can put the cooler in the hole to keep it cool and make sure all this meet doesn't go to waste. Just because went digging crazy doesn't mean that I can't," she said grabbing the shovel back and digging some more.

"Fine, but I'm not helping you crazy woman," said Amy standing up and brushing the dirt from her pants.

"Didn't ask for it," said Traveler as Amy walked away. It was only a little while more before the hole was ready. It had warmed up somewhat being exposed to the hot sun so much but Traveler knew once it was all covered back up it would cool down again. She placed the cooler into the hole than made a mound of dirt on top of it. She than gathered some rocks from around her and put it in a ring around the mound.

"Now what?" she said to herself as she looked around her.

**A/n:** Ready to hear what my week has been like? I had to write nine scripts, draw eight film compositions, research 1930's fashion for seven costume renderings, had to draw a costume rendering and was filming all day yesterday, oh and I did research for an essay paper.

So I didn't write much on this but I will hopefully have another chapter out by at least tomorrow.

Thanks for reading.

-Charlotte


	7. 7- Cat

Chapter Seven

Cat

The fish had been fantastic and every last one of them was eaten. They did think about saving some for the group coming back from Atlanta but by the time night had fallen they would have to have been crazy to travel back to camp in the dark.

Everyone was laughing and having a good time telling stories that Traveler didn't care about nor was she paying attention, she was to busy thinking about her next move. She was set on going solo, groups only held you back, eventually society would have to come back, it has before, so until then she would be as independent as possible. It was going to be a while till she was healed and at this rate she had no clue which of her injuries would heal first. If at least one did then she could find some crutches to use and get around that way and she wouldn't rely on this group anymore. Sooner, because there was not going to be later, she didn't want there to be, she would leave and if both of her legs were still not better then maybe she could find a scooter or a motorcycle to get around, not like she knew how to drive either of those, now was a great time to learn.

She was staring into the fire and letting it warm her and she closed her eyes letting all the sounds fade into a soft hum so she could relax. It didn't last long before Amy was shaking her.

"Traveler, wake up!" she said in her ear.

"What?" she groaned sitting up and everyone around them laughed.

"You fell asleep, almost fell into your plate of fish bones."

"Would have been pretty funny if you had," said Andrea with a smile.

"Oh, guess I was more tired than I thought. I'm going to head to bed now." She stood up with some difficulty and once more limped back to her shared tent. She zipped the tent up behind her and easily fell asleep once her head hit the pillow.

"Not again, Amy," she groaned when she heard a lot of loud noise around the camp. She sighed before crawling out of the tent and paused at what she saw. Corpses were everywhere. People were running this way and that and there was some gunfire off in the distance. She heard one to her right and quickly pulled her dagger out and stabbed it in the head. Blood splattered onto her to mix with the dirt and sweat that covered her already and she made a nasty face before some other corpses was in the area. She quickly took those down but doing so much on her legs that day she couldn't stand much longer so she got down on the ground then piled the bodies on top of her. She tied a handkerchief over her mouth and nose to help with the smell and stayed silent. Using the bodies' stench to hide her own was something she used once before and it worked perfectly.

She couldn't hear anything that was going on but she didn't dare move. It wasn't long until she actually fell asleep and this time stayed asleep till the next day.

Traveler woke up when a weight was moved off of her. She turned her head and another weight was lifted off of her.

"Holy shit," came a familiar voice and the last of the weight was removed and she was staring up at Daryl and he looked her over.

"Daryl?" she asked sitting up and moving her handkerchief off her face.

"I thought you high-tailed it out of here," he said kneeling next to her and looking for bites or scratches, "you weren't bit."

"I know I wasn't bit," she said, "but I did get sprayed." She started to wipe at the blood on her but that just made things worse.

"You stink," he said.

"Not as bad as your brother," she said, "where is the guy anyway? Did you get him?"

"No. He was gone by the time we made it to the roof."

"Gone? But he was handcuffed to the roof."

"Sawed his hand off."

"Oh…wow, sorry."

"He's a tough son of a bitch, he'll be just fine. Now come on," he said leaning down and scooping her up.

"What the hell are you doing? Put me down!" she yelled frantically and latching onto his neck.

"You smell terrible and you really can't be like that if you wish to actually stay till you get better."

"Fine," she said. He carried her in the direction of the pathway to the quarry when she caught sight of the RV and who was next to it.

"Stop!" she yelled. She pushed herself out of Daryl's arms, which was a bit hard considering he didn't want to let her go but she fell to the ground and crawled to the two blonde girls on the ground by the RV.

"Andrea?" she asked as she sat next to Amy who was on the ground. She noticed the bite mark on her arm and neck. Andrea didn't look at her she just kept staring down at her sister. Traveler looked down at Amy too and saw she was now wearing a mermaid necklace that she didn't have on last night; it must have been a gift. That's when she remembered that today was Amy's twenty second birthday.

"I'm not going to ask you to leave, Andrea, I would never do that, I would just like for what you are about to hear…just keep it to yourself, okay?" Andrea nodded slightly and Traveler took Amy's other hand and looked at the girl.

"Hey Amy, happy birthday. I know I said I would only answer one personal question but it is such a special day that comes around only once a year so I'm going to tell you all. I worked at bakery back in my hometown of New Orleans. My parents lived in the swamps there but I moved to New Orleans for college and got this job once I graduated. For my birthday my best friend planned a trip to Atlanta for us and on my birthday we were going to be picking peaches. Peaches are my favourite fruit, see, and I thought this was the coolest gift ever. That's where we were when it all happened. The group that I was previously with was the farmer and some of the people that were on the tour plus my best friend. We were surviving just fine, we had a unique group of people with different skills, we stayed in a barn nearby mostly till one night we got attacked. It wasn't big but the farmer got bit.

"We all saw what happened to people who got bit so to remove the threat I was going to put and arrow in the guys head. Farmer's right hand man didn't like that and put an ax in my leg. I made a quick decision that I didn't want to be part of that group anymore and I ran for the hills. I was in the woods for a week by myself before Daryl found me. To this day I regret not taking my friend, you reminded me exactly like her. Well that's my story, so no more personal questions okay Amy? I'm sorry but I have to go now, apparently Dixon doesn't like the way I smell. Good bye Amy," she paused, "good bye." She made eye contact with Daryl and he came and picked her up carefully and quietly walked her down to the quarry.

The water reached up to her waist where she sat, her boots and socks discarded along the shore, but her clothes in dire need of a wash as well so why not kill two birds with one bath. She absentmindedly played with the water, her mind elsewhere than the task at hand. Daryl knew she was distracted but couldn't help but feel impatient and want to return to camp to clear our the walkers. He could leave her here with some weapons, she seemed able to take care of herself. Right as he decided with himself and shifted to pull his dagger out she spoke.

"I miss my cat."

Daryl remained silent. Really, how would one respond to such a random statement? He never had a pet, but it wasn't to lack of trying, he always tried to bring some creature home for a pet when he was young, but it would always end up dead. Merle would play 'hunting' with it or his dad would take it and make it dinner. So, he stayed silent.

"She used to follow me around and so she was always near when I was feeling down. She would do something funny or cute that always cheered me up. Her name was Gigi, after the cat in that Miyazaki movie Kiki's Delivery Service, except because she was a girl we changed the spelling from a 'j' to a 'g'. We rescued her from a shelter; my mum and I knew we wanted a black cat and they had several but this one…the first time I saw her she was in this little cubby and you couldn't see a thing of her except these yellow-green eyes that followed us. When she came out she was this tiny cat, and she was such a scaredy-cat. I bet right now she is hiding under some bed in the shadows. My little ninja kitty."

Again, Daryl remained silent.

"Leave your dagger. I'll be fine on my own," she said after awhile and turning to look at him, "I'll be fine on my own, always have been."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." He nodded and placed the dagger next to the edge of the water. He looked at her one last time before turning on his heel and walking back to camp.

Traveler laid down on her back and let the water flow over her; rubbing at her face and arms to get rid of the grime and walker muck that covered her all night. Once she felt clean again she laid down on the warm rocks and let the high Georgia sun dry her completely, she clutched Daryl's dagger in her hand so nothing could catch her off guard.

-.-

Everyone was gathered around the graves that Jim had dug just the day before; they all watched helplessly as Andrea dragged the body of her sister into the last hole.

"I can do it. I can do it!" she claimed as Dale reached down to assist but pulled away at her words. Soon, with a dull 'thunk' that seemed to resonate in Traveler's ears as Amy's body was now in the bottom of the grave. There were tears in everyone's eyes and the occasional sniffle was heard as they said farewell to the departed.

Returning to camp was a quiet affair, no one spoke and Traveler really didn't like being carried so she was limping behind the main group using Daryl for support. Once back at the camp she sat in her chair and just rested. Daryl continued off to his tent only to come stomping back over to her.

"Yes, grumpy?" she asked as he was looking around the area before his eyes settled on her.

"Where are my squirrels?"

"Skinned and gutted like you asked," she said knowing she didn't answer his question. She scooted back into her chair some more and began to roll her pant leg up to look at her injured calf.

"I know that," he said losing patience with her.

"They're in the cooler," she said as she peeled back the bloody bandage that was still slightly damp from her earlier washing.

"The cooler? What about the meat that was in it?" he asked moving to stand in front of her so her attention would be on her. She didn't even glance up at him.

"Gave it to Morales to cook, it was about to go bad and I needed to make room for the fresher squirrel." He leaned down and placed his hands on the arm rests and shook the chair so she had no choice to look at him.

"So where is the cooler?" he asked forcefully.

"I drew you a map," she said pulling a folded piece of paper out of her pocket and handing it to him, "have fun." He glared at her before snatching the paper from her hand and walking off.

Traveler made a face at her cut before ripping the band aid completely off and reaching in the side pocket of the fold out chair for the first aid kit she decided would be smart to keep there. She pulled out another bandage and was about to wrap it around her cut when a shovel slammed into the ground next to her.

"You buried it you get to dig it up," said Daryl walking over.

"I am a little busy right now, and if you really want a damn squirrel so badly why don't you just go hunt yourself one?" she asked as she brushed the dirt was kicked up by the shovel off of her leg.

"You don't get it do you?" he asked, "We're probably going to leave camp after this and that means having to take the camp with us, and that includes my squirrels."

"Well then have fun digging," she said as she began to slowly wrap the bandage around her calf.

Daryl just snorted and walked away, "that cut should have gotten stitches."

"Does anyone around here look like a doctor?" she asked to herself since he wouldn't have been able to hear. She just shook her head and finished the job at hand before relaxing back into her chair and seeing if a nap was in order, which is wasn't since Daryl decided to make it an impossible feat by coming over to complain every once in a while.

**A/n:** Thank you for reading.

-Charlotte


	8. 8- Sick

Chapter Eight

Sick

"I've been, uh, I've been thinking about Rick's plan. There are no guarantees either way, I'll be the first one to admit that. I've known this man a long time; I trust his instincts. I say the most important thing here is we need to stay together. So those of you that agree, we leave first thing in the morning. Okay?" said Shane. Everyone nodded and the camp was silent as the group split up and headed off to do their chores and what not.

Daryl managed to dig the cooler up and they decided to cook the squirrel for dinner, since they didn't save any of the fish from the night before. Traveler was in charge of cooking it but asked Carol to look after it while she went back to the tent. Daryl was sitting out in front of it doing something dangerous with a knife and stick but paused when she limped over.

"You're never going to get better, you know that. I thought you wanted to leave," he said.

"I'm fine," she said while entering the tent and going over to her bag and packing it up. She made sure her weapons were secure next to it and double checked her blades blades.

"You must be pretty damn stupid," said Daryl in the tent opening and Traveler turned around and looked at him.

"Okay, I'll humour you, why?" she said turning back aroung and putting her dagger down.

"I know you plan to leave, that is obvious as hell, but you won't survive a week tops out there."

"Well thank you for your concern, but why do you care? You just mind your own business, and I'll mind my own, savvy?" Daryl didn't say anything more and went back to his chair outside. Traveler sat down and waited. Soon the others went to sleep and Traveler was thinking about the person who would be on watch and how to get past them. She could feel the fatigue of the day wearing down on her but she had a mission and now was the only time to see it through to leave this group before anymore connections could be made. She had to go…

A bump in the road jolted Traveler awake and she quickly sat up, looking around her. She was riding in the passenger seat of a truck with Daryl at the driver's seat. Her weapons were by her feet and she saw her bag in the bed of the truck next to Daryl's bag's and his brother's motorcycle. Daryl glanced at her when she woke up and couldn't help but smirk smugly at her failed attempt to leave.

"Ah damn it, I fell asleep didn't I?" she muttered putting her face in her hands.

"Told you, you weren't fit," he said.

"You know what, I really don't want to hear you right now. You could have just left me behind, didn't have to haul my ass up into your truck and bring me along."

"Didn't. Rick said you were traveling with me and T-Dog hauled your ass up into the truck."

Traveler just groaned and kept her face in her hands. She stayed that way trying to think of how to get out of this mess when their caravan came to a stop and the other survivours got out of their cars. Traveler stayed where she was and watched as Daryl got out of the truck and the saw everyone else gathering around the RV that had smoke coming out of the front. Things got interesting when Jackie came running out of the RV and said something frantically to the others, Daryl then went inside the RV then came out as Rick came in.

Daryl made his way back to his truck cursing to himself and went to his bag in the back and started searching through it. Not finding what he was hoping for he made his way to the passenger side of the truck where Traveler was watching him and he opened up the glove compartment and started looking through it and slammed it shut when he didn't find what he was looking for either.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"What isn't?" he snorted in reply, "Dales RV is on it's last breath and so is Jim. I knew we should had put him out when we first found out he was bit."

"Wait! Someone on the group was bit…and you brought him with us? Excuse my French but what the fuck?!"

That's when Daryl realized what he said and who he said it to. The group had agreed not to tell Traveler about Jim because of her history in regards to situations like this.

"Ah damn it! Wasn't s'ppose to tell you," he groaned crossing his arms and leaning against the truck.

"Of course you weren't, the group didn't want me to go psycho and attack Jim right? Why can't people understand that once you're bit you're done for, there is no way to stop it so why prolong the inevitable. Keeping a bit person around just puts everyone else in danger. I thought this group was different, I thought at least _you_ wouldn't allow this to happen. You know what, I don't care I'm out of here," she yelled frustrated then moved to get out of the truck when Daryl spun around so he was in front of her and put his arms on either side of her trapping her in.

"I tried to stop it. When I found out Jim was bit I tried to end it but the group stopped me. It was Lori's idea not to tell you because she knew it would end badly, so this isn't my fault. As for leaving, that ain't going to happen not until you're healed, because sending you out there right now like this would be just like killing you myself and I don't want that crap on my mind. So just stay seated here like a good girl and let me deal with this mess, mmkay?" Traveler just stared at him before clenching her hand into a fist and swinging it right into his jaw.

Daryl stumbled backwards holding his left jaw in shock before glaring at her.

"Fuck! What the fuck was that for?" he shouted. Traveler the reached out and grabbed the front of his raggedy shirt and pulled him close to her.

"Don't ever talk down to me again, okay hick boy. And I don't need you worrying over me about anything. From here on out you worry about yourself and right now that includes going to find out what the hell the group is going to do about Jim and it better be to get rid of him. So you can go get your big boy ass over to the rest of the group and find out what is going on, mmkay?"

Daryl forcefully pulled out of her hold and shook his shoulder to fix his shirt then glared at her once more before turning about to head over to the group and shouting over his shoulder, "and don't look at my big boy ass as I walk away."

Traveler just hardened her glare before slamming her door shut and locking it. Things were just going swimmingly weren't they. All in one day she found herself unable to leave this crazy group, there was a guy in the group that was bit and was still hanging around, and the person she was stuck in a car with, traveling to who knows where, was someone she just punched in the face. Just peachy.

Angry with everyone around her and with herself for getting so messed up in a time when being injured was practically a death sentence she layed down across the seats and drapped her arms over her eyes. Things really weren't what they use to be. Before this she never would have attacked an injured person; this world was changing her and she didn't like the person she was becoming. To put it frankly, she was now a bitch and that was something she never wanted to become. Sure she could be forceful back before all this but it was required of her for her job but she was always smart about the way she instructed people and if someone was struggling she tried to help. Now she only worried about herself and others were just in the way.

There has to be some way to survive this world and still be like her old self, right? She had to focus on that and she had to apologise, starting with Daryl, since he did find her in the forest, carry her ass back to his camp, bandage her, shared his tent, and now was driving her with the group. He also said he didn't want to send her off alone right now because she would most probably die and he didn't want that on his mind. Whatever that meant so didn't know fully, but she appreciated it and was shocked that someone like Daryl would, even in this kind of world, look after someone else so much. She was indebted to him now and would see that she made it up to him.

The Georgia sun beat down on her as she laid in the truck and wished there was some way or being relieved of his heat but saw that wasn't likely. She felt a little light headed and blamed it on dehydration so she sat up heled onto the seat to keep her upright but her head began to spin and she felt nauseaous, really nauseaous. She immediately scrambled to open her door, struggling with the lock before she threw the door open and fell out the truck. She managed to crawl a little bit away from the truck before she threw up her past meals onto the side of the road. Once nothing else was coming out and she was done dry heaving she noticed another person was by her. She looked up with hazy eyes and saw only a blurry figure holding something out to her, they said something but she couldn't make it out, it was only a muffled sound before she began to sway. The person muttered something else before grabbing her and everything went black.

When Traveler came to she noticed she was back in the truck laying down with her head resting into Daryl's thigh. She groaned and Daryl's glanced at her before moving his eye back to the road and blindly reaching below the seat and pulling a water bottle out and handing it to her.

"Drink it, all of it," he said handing it to her. She nodded and tried to sit up with some difficulty, in the end she was still leaning against Daryl but was propped up enough to sip the water. She finished it off and rubbed her face before sitting still for a few minutes, they both remained silent, until Traveler took her chance.

"Thank you," she said softly.

"It's nothin'," he said moving arm so his elbow was propped on the car door and he ran his fingers over his lips.

Traveler continued on either way, "thank you for everything. You did so much for me, a complete stranger, that no one else probably would have done in this world. Before all this, I would have done the same thing, but everything that has hapepend changed me and not in a good way. I…I want to be more like you. I don't know what you were like before the world went wrong but right now, you're a great guy and I really do appreciate all that you've done." Daryl turned and looked at her and she gasped, " and I'm sorry about that," she said pointing at the bruise on his left jaw.

"Yeah, well, at least I found out never to piss you off, you can punch that's for sure," he said turing his eyes back to the road.

"So we're good?" she asked.

"Depends," he responded.

"On…?"

"You going to keep trying to leave or stay with us till you get better?"

"I'll stay," she said nodding to herself trying to reassure herself that this was the right choice.

"Then we're good."

"So what exactly happened back there?"

"We were laying Jim out, he wanted to be left behind, and Glenn saw you pukeing your guts out. I went over to help you before you passed out. Jackie offered to put you in the RV to watch after you, but I figured since Jim was just sick in there, that you wouldn't want to be lying in the same bed so I offered to look out for you. After all, wouldn't want anyone else getting punched."

"Right, thank you. And I can't help but notice that we're heading towards Atlanta, did I just make a mistake in agreeing to stay with you guys?"

"We're going to the CDC," he said. Traveler looked at him before shaking her head and shifting so her back was leaning against the seat and so she wasn't leaning on him anymore, in this heat, extra body heat was not needed.

…

**A/n:** I know it has been a while since I've updated. Blame school blah blah blah. Spring break has started for me so I've decided to dedicate my first day off to writing and only writing (but of course I slept in this morning).

So hopfully you can expect another update very soon.

-Charlotte


	9. 9- The Doctor

Chapter Nine

The Doctor

The scene around the CDC as the caravan pulled up and, for some reason, paralleled park along a curb was quite the sight. Traveler imagined if they could send postcards right now, this scene would sum up their experiences perfectly. Here was this place where diseases came to be fully discovered and destroyed completely surrounded by disease and death with the graying clouds and outline of Atlanta in the background and not to mention the occasional corpse still walking around just really said 'wish you were here' but in a whole different way.

Everyone immediately got out of the vehicles once they came to a stop, since they were losing light quick, and Traveler climbed onto Daryl's back and held on as he gripped her ankles around his waist and held his crossbow in the other hand at the ready. They all made a beeline for the CDC that was just a short distance away, moving quietly but quickly as Shane has whispered for them to do.

The group went around the bodies that littered the grounds around the modern building that wasn't nearly close enough and swatted away the swarms of flies that had taken residency there. The smell alone was enough to make a healthy person vomit, but for Traveler she found herself digging her nose into Daryl's back and gripping his shoulders tightly to keep from actually vomiting, she already did it once this day and really didn't feel like a repeat. Even if Daryl smelled pretty bad himself having not had a proper bath nor shower in a long time, it still topped ode du decaying human any day.

"I ain't gunna drop you, loosen your grip would ya?" whispered Daryl shifting his shoulders.

"Do you want me to vomit down your back?" she asked but it was muffled by his back because she didn't want to risk moving her nose. Daryl just shifted his shoulders once more before everyone turned their attention to the shutters that were secured all around the CDC. They banged on them but got no response, it looked like they had hit a dead end.

There was a lot of shouting and Daryl was moving around a lot, Traveler heard him shoot his crossbow at once point, she didn't look up because the movement was making her queasy once more so her focus was only on not vomiting, which was feat in and of itself considering what was going on around her at the moment.

People were shouting and some more bangs happened but she couldn't help and look up when she saw a bright white light. Everyone watched the shutter rise and they had to blink in shock to make sure they were seeing what they were seeing.

Wasting no time they group poured into the building, Daryl taking the rear as instructed and taking out a few walkers that were getting too close and were drawn to the light. Traveler was feeling dizzy once more and dropped her head back down where it was not phasing Daryl in the slightest.

She heard muffled voices and conversation going but as hard as she tried she couldn't make anything out. All she knew was that soon she was being placed into a chair or something she figured it was wheel chair since she felt it moving then a wet cloth was laid on her face. She kept going in and out but when she felt a prick in her arm and blood leaving her she was out.

Things were dark, apocalyptic dark, when she regained consciousness and tried to look around her. Were they at the CDC? Were they safe? Was she finally dead? Is this what it felt like, because quite frankly she still didn't feel all that fantastic. No she could feel the throbbing on her legs, it use to be pain but she long since had gotten use to it, she was still alive. She reached up and took the damp cloth off of her forehead and placed it next to her and felt sheets, it felt almost like a hospital bed, they had to be in the CDC. Muffled voices then were heard and slowly growing, it almost sounded like…were they drunk?

Groaning, Traveler shifted and placed her legs on the ground when she kicked something and it rolled a bit. The wheel chair. She reached out and blindly felt for it before she grabbed it securely and surprisingly managed to get into it without falling on her ass like she predicted she would do. Soon she was rolling towards where the voices were growing louder and opened the door, being blinded by the light that was on in the hallway. She blinked away the spots and saw a limply walking Glenn being supported by Daryl, both were drunk and both were chuckling like mad men. Daryl then looked up and squinted before recognizing who was in front of them. Glenn noticed too and smirked at Daryl.

"Well look…hiccup…who it is. Daryl's girlfriend!" said Glenn slightly shouting the last word, which received a swat in the back of his head from the man supporting him.

"Ain't my girl friend," mumbled Daryl who was more interested in his feet at the moment.

"But she's a girl…and," Glenn paused to swallow, "she's your friend. So…she's your girlfriend."

"You're drunk," was Daryl's retort while forcefully shifting Glenn who 'oof'ed at the movement.

"Yeah man," was Glenn's reply while looking up at Daryl who looked at him, "you have…amazing eyes…"

"Daryl, I think you should get him to bed," said Traveler even though the whole scene was highly amusing.

"Right, bed," mumbled Daryl before leading Glenn down the hallway and into a room before returning shortly and stopping awkwardly in front of Traveler.

"Having a fun night?" she asked already knowing the answer.

"The doc has quite the wine selection…yeah."

"Well I'm glad you hold your alcohol better than Glenn does," she said shifting her wheel chair a bit before she noticed something about him, "hey…you look clean."

"Oh right, the best part," he said putting on a lopsided grin and squatting down in front of her.

"Better than alcohol?"

"Yep…hot," he paused for effect, "water."

"Lead the way Dixon," commanded Traveler and pointing down the hallway. He chuckled and got up before leading her down the hallway to the bathroom. He struggled to fit the wheelchair in the small room and finally just decided on picking her up and sitting her on top of the toilet seat and kicking the wheelchair out of the doorway.

"There, now…it's only a shower so I guess you'll have to sit on the floor…and there was something the doc told me…what was that?" he asked himself as Traveler looked at the different soaps and shampoos available.

"Was it how to turn the shower on because I think I can handle that," she said looking at the tap and quickly figuring out how it worked, it wasn't rocket science.

"No, he said it after he got you bandaged up….ah ha!" he said snapping and looking at her as she looked up at him, "can't get your stitches wet."

"I have stitches?" she asked before looking down at her calf and trying to see inside the bandage around it.

"Yeah and you can't get them wet so…maybe you can have your legs sticking out while you sit on the floor," he said rubbing the back of his head, "why don't they have a tub here?"

"It's fine Daryl, maybe you should go sober up a bit while I shower and I can come and find you when I'm done, okay? You're kind of freaking me out a bit if this is how you act when drunk."

"Freaking you out in a good way?" he asked leaning towards her and smirking at her with a wink.

"Is there ever a good way of freaking out?" she asked leaning back a bit.

"I'm sure there is," he said before standing up, "well if you need any help, you know, showering, I'll be nearby." He said looking her over before locking eyes with her and she furrowed her brow at him.

"Just leave and drink a gallon of water please," she said pointing to the door. He just smirked once more before leaving and closing the door behind him. "That was weird," she said as she leaned over and turned the shower on.

Daryl was right. Hot water was the best thing. Better then stitches, proper treatment of her wounds, and better then the wheel chair. There is nothing that could compare to a hot shower after weeks covered in mud, guts, and you don't even want to know what else. Knowing she had to save the water she reluctantly quickly finished and was soon just sitting in the steaming bathroom drying off the best she could.

She glared at the hospital gown she had been given before tugging it on and sighing as how uncomfortable it was. She hoped that Daryl brought her bag in so she could wear something else. With a new mission in mind, she pulled her self on the wheel chair and after successfully doing so, she made her way down the hall and came across door, after door… after door.

"Er, which one?" she asked herself trying to think about where Daryl would sleep, but she had no clue. She didn't want to just open doors either in case she saw something she really didn't want to see and probably couldn't erase from her memory.

At the end of the hall, she came to a main living room type area, almost looked like a recreational room for the CDC workers and she decided to just stay in there for a while, see what she could use to entertain herself since she didn't feel tired.

Finding some board games on a shelf she rolled over and looked at it seeing all her old childhood favourites. She was really good at board games, either that or her father used to always let her win, which was a possibility. Candyland was her favourite, but battleship was her father's favourite, and neither one could stand monopoly because it took too long.

"You know, those games need at least two people to play," said a voice from the doorway. Traveler turned her head and saw someone she didn't know but she recognized the voice from when they first entered the CDC, this must have been a the doctor that let them in.

"Is that a challenge?" she asked.

"Nothing better to do," he said walking in and over to her.

"Well I think sleeping would be better."

"Yeah, haven't been doing much of that lately. So which game?"

"Candyland," she said nodding towards it. He pulled it down and walked over to the coffee table and sat down on the sofa before it and started to set the board up as Traveler moved over to join him and made sure she could reach.

"So how many other doctors are around?" she asked as she grabbed the green person piece and placed it at the start as the doctor placed the blue piece next to hers.

"I'm the only one left," he replied with a stoic face.

"Oh, sorry," she said. There was a pause as she pulled a card and moved her piece. "What's you name?"

"Oh, sorry," he said as he quickly pulled a card and moved his piece before holding his hand out, "Dr. Jenner."

"Just call me Traveler," she replied and shook his hand before grabbing another card.

"So, Traveler, how did you end up with those wounds?" he asked while they continued to play.

"The others didn't tell you?"

"Nope, said you kept to yourself and didn't like others knowing of you. Explains why people call you Traveler instead of your real name."

"Yes. So you should know that I am not going to tell you how I got these injuries, but I will tell you that I am very thankful that you fixed me up and took us in. It is nice to feel secure for once."

"I can't imagine what it is like out there…" he trailed off.

"Hell describes it pretty accurately."

They fell into a silence as they finished their game, the doctor winning before Traveler yawned and sat back in her chair with a sigh.

"You wouldn't know where Daryl's room is would you?" she asked.

"Not a clue," he said, "I can help you find a free room though, don't think you want to go back to the check-up room, do you?"

"No, I don't, but I think I'll just stay in here. Sofa looks comfortable enough, and do you think I can get some actual clothes?" she said. Dr Jenner nodded and got up and left the room, shortly returning with a blanket, pillow, and what looked like pyjamas.

"Thank you," she said taking the pyjama set and staring at them. They were all white, she hadn't seen white this pure in such a long time, it was almost blinding to look at.

"Is something wrong?" he asked, "it is the only thing I could find."

"No, this is fine," she said softly, running her fingers over the soft material and getting a whiff of fabric softener. Things really were different. This wasn't some nightmare she would be able to wake up from, this is reality and here she was trying to survive it.

After Traveler changed, Dr. Jenner helped her onto the sofa and made sure she was comfortable before turning the light out, but before he left the room completely Traveler called out.

"Doctor," she said. He paused and she was able to hear that he didn't leave yet, "I know it is hard, not knowing who you can trust and not knowing what is safe, but what you did today, taking us in, it was a good decision, even if you are regretting it. You might have just saved my life, and for that I am grateful. Just know, that even in this world of hatred and horrible moral choices, in our eyes, you did the right thing."

There was a long pause.

"Get some sleep," he said before leaving the room.

…

**A/n: **I know it has been a while, but writer's block hit me hard, as did life and I had to priorites in line so yeah. It is even more sad that I've had half this chapter written for months now, but really didn't know where to go with this.

Anyway, I would just like to point out that I based drunk Daryl on sober Norman Reedus, just because I thought it would be interesting to see that contrast between personalities and honestly how great of an actor the man is.

Thank you for reading.

-Charlotte


	10. 10- Big Bang

Chapter Ten

Big Bang

Traveler awoke with a start and looked around her. She took a deep breath and calmed down as she saw that she was safe and sound sleeping on the sofa inside the CDC. She didn't hear anything but she was feeling very groggy and her mind wasn't totally clear. Sitting up she gently placed her feet on the floor and pulled her wheelchair towards her and climbed on before heading down the hallway. It was dark around her with very little light, not telling her what time it was nor how long she had been asleep. She managed to find a kitchen that looked like people had already eaten breakfast in, but there was no one in there and it was still silent everywhere.

Going back down the hallway that the others slept in, she was able to find Daryl's room, she assumed, and her bag and weapons. She placed her things on her lap right and moved on to another area of the building to see if she could find anyone there.

She had just come to the entrance to the building when she realized just how warm it was in there. She recalled last night that there was some form of air conditioning going on but now there was nothing it was starting to warm up in there, she also noticed that none of the lights were one anywhere; was something wrong in the building? She rolled the sleeves of her new pyjamas up and pulled her hair back into a braid before continuing on. She was headed towards a hallway that she heard shouting traveling down when an alarm started going off. She had just reached the entrance to the hall when she saw at the end a large door drop down trapping whoever it was yelling, inside, and she could only assume it was her currently group.

The last thing she saw when the door closed was Rick staring down the hall with a shocked expression. She moved as fast as she could down the hall and heard a lot of yelling coming from inside the room. The voices overlapped each other so it was hard to distinguish one from the other. Soon she heard a light conversation till she was able to make out a computer voice clearly.

"H.I.T.s: high-impulse thermobaric fuel-air explosives consist of a two stage aerosol ignition that produces a blast wave of significantly greater power and duration than any other known explosive except nuclear. The vacuum-pressure effect ignites the oxygen at between 5000 degrees and 6000 degrees and is useful when the greatest loss of life and damage to structure is desired."

Traveler froze. Did she just hear this correctly? These doors were sealed shut with everyone else inside and this building was about to ignite the air and burn everything to a crisp? She had to get out, she had to save the others, she had to do something.

She immediately began banging on the door till she heard Rick shout.

"Traveler?!" he screamed from the other side of the door.

"Rick?"

"Traveler. You have to get out," he said.

"What about you? I can't leave you?"

"I don't see how you can save us."

"I have to try."

Seventeen minutes later, Traveler sat in her wheelchair completely tired as she tried everything to get this door open. She nearly jumped out of her chair as some pounding started coming from the other side. She started to wheel away in case the door did open, and that is when she began weighing her options.

It seemed like this door wasn't opening, and she was on the other side of it. She still had a chance to get out; a chance to live. She sure as hell didn't want it to end in a fiery explosion. As she contemplated this the banging stopped and she wheeled over to the door and tried to hear what was happening. They were talking, she could make out murmuring, till someone said her name by the door.

"Traveler?" it asked. From the gruffness she could tell it was Daryl.

"Yes?"

"Go."

"What?"

"Wheel yourself away from here, far away from here."

"What?"

"Just go!" he shouted, "you can still get out. Take your damn wheelchair and leave now! There are only ten minutes left."

"I can't leave you guys."

"Thought you hated groups."

"I do, but no group deserves to go like this."

"Just go. Now."

"Daryl…"

"Get the fuck out!"

She took a deep breath before turning her back to the large metal door and quickly making her way back down the hallway. She hated doing it. Everything in her wanted her to turn around and go back to them as if by some miracle she could save them or they will get free, but you don't go against a Dixon and when one tells you to get the fuck out, you do it. She made her way to the front doors and saw that the glass wasn't going to break anytime soon. She then made her way to another area and saw another door.

Once again she tried everything she could to get through it and she wasn't quite sure how she did it, but she managed to get a hole in it and was able to crawl through it. The wheelchair didn't fit so she secured her bag to her back and pulled out a blade as she limped away as fast as she could. The trucks and other vehicles were on the other side of the building and she didn't have time to get to them, she had to get as far away from here and as fast as she could.

It was slow moving, especially having to slay corpses every now and again, but then ducked behind a concrete wall when she heard an explosion. She glanced back at the building but didn't see it in flames like the computer said it would be.

"Was it wrong?" she asked wondering if the group was safe and if she should go back and save them. Standing up she was about to go around the wall when a larger explosion knocked her flat on her back and the breath out of her.

Nope, the computer was right, that was the explosion. Traveler blinked as debris landed around her and she tried to get the breath back into her lungs. Did they get out? Did everyone she know just leave her? How was she going to survive now? Where was she going to go now?

She tried to remain conscious since she was still really close to the city and no doubt the corpses will be drawn to the explosion, but as hard as she tried, she soon lost consciousness and the last thought she had was of Daryl and if he was all right.

...

Night had fallen by the time Traveler regained herself. She heard scuffling around her and felt something tugging at her sleeve. She glanced down and immediately swung her blade around and sliced through the corpses head. She scuttled away and saw others walking around nearby. Fighting all of the soreness from the impact of the explosion plus her prior injuries she ran as fast as she could away from. Those things couldn't catch her if she was faster then them, what would really help was if she could find a car or something that would take the pressure off her legs. She was thankful that one of them hadn't bitten her while she was out, not sure why one didn't, she wasn't going to dwell on it and just figured she got lucky. Just how she was lucky she was able to get out of explosion alive.

She ran right out of Atlanta and kept going. Her legs were killing her and she was sure those stitches she had are ruined but she had to keep running. She wasn't safe this close to the city.

Not being able to run anymore, and having come the outskirts of town, she climbed up a tree and secured herself up there, just like she had when Daryl first found her. Well at least she was still dressed for bed, she chuckled to herself as she glanced at her now blackened pyjamas. With a sigh and a deep breath Traveler closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Everyday was something new and she just wanted a break, but in this world, a five minutes break would be just like a week's vacation in Hawaii. And she had just gotten use to being in a group and once again she was alone. Being in that group really ruined her, she got too attached, she knew it was a bad idea. Now she was alone. That was how it will be from now on. Now more groups, no more helping people. It will be her all on her own.

…

**A/n:** Kind of short, shorter than I would like it to be, but I didn't know how to drag this on anymore than I would like. So I cut it off there. It isn't the end, no I don't know when it will end but know that this isn't it.

Thank you for reading.

-Charlotte


End file.
